Blake Martinez might’ve taken “Gotta Catch ‘Em All” too literally.
Shortly after retiring in 2022, the former NFL linebacker announced that he would begin reselling Pokemon trading cards as a part of a new business venture.
But a major marketplace for trading card sales is claiming that Martinez might not have done so in good faith.
“After a comprehensive investigation into Blakesbreaks’ operations, we have decided to permanently remove the seller from our platform, including the individual employees involved in misconduct,” trading card marketplace WhatNot said in a statement.
“We have refunded all buyers impacted by the infractions. If you believe you were affected by an incident on his streams, please submit the details here, and we will investigate.”
While the company did not release any information regarding what Martinez’s “Blake’s Breaks” allegedly did to be banned, one Reddit video accuses the company of swapping out higher-level packs for lesser-value packs.
Additionally, Pokémon YouTuber “Rattle Pokemon” released an eight-part series titled “Even Former NFL Players Will Scam You On Whatnot?” directed at Martinez, which has garnered tens of thousands of views in total.
“Was skeptical at first but once you see it you can’t unsee it,” a commenter said on the Reddit page while alleging another claim against Blake’s Breaks. “I’ve been scammed by them as well, won two slabs and on both occasions they were never shipped. Blake Martinez should stick to being a d grade football player.”
Martinez responded to the accusations on a live stream.
“I understand the optics…I understand how it looks, trust me,” said Martinez. “I know the type of business I run… I made a good amount of money — everybody knows, in the NFL — I knew stepping into this was going to have a target on my back.”
Martinez retired from the NFL at 28 years old despite signing with the Raiders after his Giants release.
Just before Martinez retired from the NFL, he sold an extremely rare Pokemon card for around $600,000.
When he began his new business venture, its first year was wildly successful, accruing $11.5 million in revenue in its first year in operation.
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